A man killed his "on-off" girlfriend and her sister in Birmingham in a brutal and depraved attack, knifing one of them more than 30 times, a jury has heard.

Birmingham Crown Court was told that Mohammed Ali was twice forced to rearm himself after knives broke as he stabbed Yasmine and Sabrina Larbi-Cherif.

Opening the case against Ali, prosecutor David Crigman QC said the 29-year-old had been in a relationship with Yasmine, 22, before killing her and her 19-year-old sister Sabrina.

Mr Crigman told a jury that Ali, who has admitted manslaughter on the grounds of provocation but denies murder, stabbed both women in the lounge of their flat before dragging their bodies into a bedroom, leaving a "swathe" of blood on the floor.

After showing the jury CCTV film of Ali leaving the Jupiter Apartments in Ryland Street, Birmingham, following the killings, Mr Crigman told the panel: "He had left behind a scene of carnage.

"He had used violence of the most brutal and depraved kind and he had killed two young girls."

The jury was told that the partially-clothed bodies of the Algerian-born siblings were found last September at their fourth-floor flat near to Birmingham Broad Street entertainment district.

In his opening speech, Mr Crigman added that Ali, of Old Snow Hill, Birmingham, was arrested in Dover two days after being seen leaving the flat.

"In this case, it's likely that there will be overlapping motives - anger, control, base male brutality and a significant sexual dimension," the lawyer said.